The (financial) silent treatment: Millions of couples unaware of their partner's pension savings as retirement looms

You may know their favourite films,how they take their tea and the names of their childhood pets, but millions of Britons may be approaching retirement without knowing how much is saved in their partner's pension.

Despite having less than a decade till retirement, almost a quarter of over-55s in long term relationships or marriages told NOW: Pensions that they have never spoken to their other half about how they'll fund their later years.

This is particularly worrying given that some people - mainly women - plan on living off their partner's savings when they reach retirement, but don't know whether this will actually be possible.

Silence not golden: Many savers do not speak to their partner's about their retirement plans.

More than a quarter of the 2,156 people surveyed, 27 per cent, say they are concerned that their partner is not saving enough for their golden years, with those aged 35 to 44 particularly worried.

As well as not planning prudently for their post-work years, by failing to share their financial information couples are leaving themselves at risk if one of them should die.

Morten Nilsson, of NOW: Pensions said: 'Crossing your fingers and hoping for the best is no way to go about planning your retirement finances.

'As a couple, regularly reviewing and openly discussing your pension plans will help to avoid a nasty shock.'

The research has thrown up some concerning statistics for women. More of them than ever are set to be saving thanks to automatic enrolment but there still remains a high number relying on their husbands for support in retirement.

Almost one in five women told NOW: Pensions that they still expect their partner to fund their retirement, compared to just 2 per cent of men who expect to live off their partner's pension pot.

More women however say they do expect their partners to fund part of their retirement, after career breaks meant their own savings had dwindled, while just under half say they'll entirely fund their retirement.

Of the men saying they'll be supporting their partners, more than half say it's because their wife had taken career breaks to have children, with other reasons including their partner not earning enough to save for retirement, or their partner only having worked part-time.

Michelle Cracknell, of The Pensions Advisory Service said: 'This research draws attention to some of the issues that we hear about on our helpline in respect of partners and their pensions.

'Married women often tell us that they had opted out of all pensions because their husband made all the provision. This may not be the best financial planning and, of course, creates a problem should the marriage break down.

'Another common query from women that we receive through our helpline is what happens on the death of the partner.

'There is a low level of knowledge of the other benefits that a pension scheme provides and many widows struggle to trace their deceased husband’s pension scheme or know what needs to be done or what income to expect.'